Epi-economics, epi-emotions, epi-genetics and now epi-demic. Epi- the prefix means “above”; -demic is from the Greek demos meaning “people”. An epidemic of wickedness – see above.
Adam and Eve gave in to epi-economics – above their economic choices was their own self-love. For self-love they disobeyed their Creator, found evil in their own lives and were stopped from living forever in that condition.
Adam and Eve gave in to epi-emotions – above their emotions of love to one another and to their Creator they allowed their own self love to dominate. For self love they blamed each other, covered up their guilt and blamed God for it all.
Adam and Eve experienced epi-genetics. Their human genome was very good - God saw his creation and said it was “very good”. But into their original nature had entered the consequences of self-love – the emotional damage within what we euphemistically call “nurture”. Functional modifications to their genome occurred and were passed on to their children. Then Cain killed his brother Abel – and more “nurture” damage occurred to the functional genome.
Is this confirmed in Jersey? Is this confirmed in AD 2012? Is self-love (the seed of greed) the epi-economics which has given rise to the failure of the market system once so beloved of economists, and which is giving rise now to global poverty and millions of deaths through starvation? Is it self-love (epi-emotions) which is allowing us all to act cruelly towards those we once loved and allowing us to hate and to criticise and to refuse help to others?. Is it the consequences of self-love (epi-genetics) which are being evidenced in the growing misdeeds of successive generations of children?
Look now at the words in bold above. Again they’re from the first few pages of the Jewish and Christian Bible. Epi-demic?
The words in bold provide a succinct picture of life many thousands of years ago. It was pretty awful. Let’s word backwards. “The wickedness of man was great on the earth.” Why was that? “Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Why was that? “Adam …. fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image.”
Why was that a bad thing? “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.” As generation followed generation after Adam, matters became worse and worse on earth because Adam’s progeny took the image, the life, the ways, the mutated genes, and the likeness of Adam instead of the likeness of God.
Under Adam’s likeness what eventually became the norm? Absolutely anything. No constraints. Self-love was the driving force. Above any ethical consideration was the driving force of unbridled self-love. (Remember that these were pre-Christian, pre-Judaism days.)
What do you think? In our present post-Christian era are we all now going in that same direction again? Especially in Western European countries? Is my Gold more important than another’s Justice? Are my achievements to be preferred over my neighbour’s hurt? Must I get and retain for myself - and switch off the TV when there are pictures of those on the other end of the see-saw that’ve lost all and have nothing left but a last breath?
No Jesus Christ. No Messiah. Welcome to the epidemic of self-love.
But Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny self and take up his cross and follow me. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” Yes, lives are lost in all epidemics. |
